The companies have asked for a court order to force Baidu.com to remove links to sites with infringing material, the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry, IFPI, the organization handling the company's complaints said in a released statement. The IFPI is the parent organization of the RIAA, well know in the U.S. for its use of strong arm tactics to try to curb file sharing.

The IFPI announced that these claims against Baidu.com have been filed in a Bejing court. The IFPI also announced that Universal Music Ltd, Sony BMG Music Entertainment (Hong Kong) Ltd,
Warner Music Hong Kong Ltd as well as Gold Label Entertainment Ltd are also seeking legal action against the Chinese media giant Sohu.com Inc and its search engine Sogou. The action against Sohu.com is separate to the Baidu.com complaint.

Yahoo China, Baidu.com, and Sohu.com were all unavailable for comment. Likewise, Chinese court officials declined to remark on the case.

John Kennedy, the IFPI chief executive, complains about the lack of respect for copyright by Chinese companies, stating in a written statement, "The music industry in China wants partnership with the technology
companies -- but you cannot build partnership on the basis of systemic
theft of copyrighted music and that is why we have been forced to take
further actions."

The IFPI alleges that 99 percent of all music download in China is pirated, which costs the music industry millions a year.

China has vowed to get tougher on piracy in the force of international criticism, yet the government has made it hard in recent years to get some materials by legal means. China recently banned the import of U.S. DVDs, leaving citizens with the unfortunate choice between not watching or joining the record number of pirates.

“So far we have not seen a single Android device that does not infringe on our patents." -- Microsoft General Counsel Brad Smith